My Science Project

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My Science Project
Directed by	Jonathan R. Betuel
Produced by	Jonathan T. Taplin
Written by	Jonathan R. Betuel
Starring	John Stockwell Danielle von Zerneck Fisher Stevens Raphael Sbarge Dennis Hopper Richard Masur Barry Corbin
Music by	Peter Bernstein
Cinematography	David M. Walsh
Editing by	Carroll Timothy O'Meara
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s)	August 9, 1985 (USA)
Running time	94 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	Unknown
Gross revenue	$4,122,748 (USA)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

My Science Project is a 1985 comedy/adventure/science fiction film. The film is directed by Jonathan R. Betuel.

Tagline: The funniest sci-fi movie this summer.

We must not destroy the world.

[edit] Plot summary

Gearhead Michael and bookworm Ellie break into a military junkyard to find a science project for Michael's class. Michael accidentally falls through a trap door into an old underground fallout shelter, and upon exploring the shelter discover a strange glowing orb (a plasma lamp), which unknown to them is the engine of a crashed UFO. Michael unknowingly activates the device while trying to clean it, so it could pass as his science project. Referring to it simply as the "gizmo," it demonstrates strange properties, such as absorbing electricity from any nearby electronic devices. After Michael and his friends plug it into a power source, it begins to materialize objects from other times and dimensions. When his science teacher (played by Dennis Hopper) experiments by plugging the orb into the power grid, it starts a chain reaction that starts to twist dimensions and warp time around it. Past, present and future collide, in a whirling vortex which engulfs the school and puts Michael and his friends into an adventure to stop it.

As alluded to in the movie's introduction, the orb itself came from a crashed alien vessel that was found by the US Military in 1957. President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the vessel destroyed (possibly fearing that it would cause panic among earth's population). The orb (which could have been some kind of temporal engine, which allowed the craft to enter different times and dimensions) was placed in a military junkyard for future analysis. Over time the device was forgotten and became lost.

[edit] Trivia

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

In an interview for Starlog magazine prior to the film's release, one of the young actors boasted of becoming the first person to use the word 'fuck' in a Disney film. Although My Science Project was ultimately released under Disney's [Touchstone Pictures] branch (which allowed films to contain adult content), the scene in which the word was allegedly uttered was cut from the final print.
Some years back it was shown in the Scandinavian TV channel TV3, it went by the name of TimeBusters and has caused confusion among viewers in later times. The reason for this change of titles remains unknown.